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Copper

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Itauz Mine, Zhezqazghan Oblysy (Dzezkazgan Oblast'; Dzhezkazgan Oblast'; Djezkazgan Oblast'; Jezkazgan Oblast'), Kazakhstan
© Rob Lavinsky

Show Copper Photos (1173)
Formula:
Cu
System:IsometricColour:Copper-red. Tarnishes to ...
Lustre:MetallicHardness:2½ - 3
Name:From Greek "kyprios", of Cyprus, the location of ancient copper mines; Latin "cuprum".


Copper Group.

Copper was one of the first metals to be worked into impliments and the first metal to be smelted from ores. Its excellent ductility and high conductivity assure its use in modern society.

Classification of Copper

IMA status:Valid - first described prior to 1959 (pre-IMA) - "Grandfathered"
Strunz 8th edition ID:1/A.01-10
Nickel-Strunz 10th (pending) edition ID:1.AA.05

1 : ELEMENTS (Metals and intermetallic alloys; metalloids and nonmetals; carbides, silicides, nitrides, phosphides)
A : Metals and Intermetallic Alloys
A : Copper-cupalite family
Dana 7th edition ID:1.1.1.3
Dana 8th edition ID:1.1.1.3

1 : NATIVE ELEMENTS AND ALLOYS
1 : Metals, other than the Platinum Group
Hey's CIM Ref.:1.1

1 : Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and Au)
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Physical Properties of Copper

Lustre:Metallic
Colour:Copper-red. Tarnishes to black or green in air.
Streak:Copper-red
Hardness (Mohs):2½ - 3
Tenacity:Malleable
Cleavage:None Observed
None
Fracture:Hackly
Density (measured):8.94 - 8.95 g/cm3
Density (calculated):8.93 g/cm3

Crystallography of Copper

Crystal System:Isometric
Class (H-M):m3m (4/m 3 2/m) - Hexoctahedral
Space Group:Fm3m (F4/m 3 2/m)
Cell Parameters:a = 3.615Å
Unit Cell Volume:V 47.24 ų
Z:4
Crystal Atlas:
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Copper no.1 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)
Copper no.2 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)
Copper no.5 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)
Copper no.7 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)
Copper no.65 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)

About Crystal Atlas

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The mindat.org Crystal Atlas allows you to view a selection of crystal drawings of real and idealised crystal forms for this mineral and, in certain cases, 3d rotating crystal objects. You need Java to see these. You can download Java for free - click here to download Java

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Chemical Properties of Copper

Formula:
Cu
Essential elements:Cu
All elements listed in formula:Cu

Relationship of Copper to other Species

Related to:
  • Copper Group
    • Related Minerals - Nickel-Strunz Grouping):

    - +
    1.AA.05Aluminium
    Al
    1.AA.05Electrum
    (Au, Ag)
    1.AA.05Gold
    Au
    1.AA.05Lead
    Pb
    1.AA.05Nickel
    Ni
    1.AA.05Silver
    Ag
    1.AA.05UM2004-08-E:AuCuPd
    (Cu,Pd,Au)
    1.AA.05UM1991-06-E:AuCu
    Au
     
    3
    		Cu
    1.AA.10aAuricupride
    Cu
     
    3
    		Au
    1.AA.10bTetra-auricupride
    AuCu
    1.AA.10aCuproauride
    Cu
     
    3
    		Au
    1.AA.15Anyuiite
    Au(Pb,Sb)
     
    2
    1.AA.15Khatyrkite
    (Cu,Zn)Al
     
    2
    1.AA.15Iodine
    I
    1.AA.15Novodneprite
    AuPb
     
    3
    1.AA.15UM1985-02-E:AlZn
    ZnAl
     
    2
    1.AA.20Cupalite
    (Cu,Zn)Al
    1.AA.25Hunchunite
    Au
     
    2
    		Pb
    Related Minerals - Hey's Index Grouping:

    - +
    1.2Silver
    Ag
    1.5Gold
    Au
    1.6Auricupride
    Cu
     
    3
    		Au
    1.7Tetra-auricupride
    AuCu
    1.8Zinc
    Zn
    1.9Cadmium
    Cd
    1.10Danbaite
    CuZn
     
    2
    1.11Zhanghengite
    CuZn
    1.12Mercury
    Hg
    1.13Kolymite
    Cu
     
    7
    		Hg
     
    6
    1.14Moschellandsbergite
    Ag
     
    2
    		Hg
     
    3
    1.15Eugenite
    Ag
     
    11
    		Hg
     
    2
    1.16Schachnerite
    Ag
     
    1.1
    		Hg
     
    0.9
    1.17Paraschachnerite
    Ag
     
    3
    		Hg
     
    2
    1.18Luanheite
    Ag
     
    3
    		Hg
    1.19Weishanite
    (Au,Ag)
     
    3
    		Hg
     
    2
    1.20Indium
    In
    1.21Aluminium
    Al
    1.22Khatyrkite
    (Cu,Zn)Al
     
    2
    1.23Cupalite
    (Cu,Zn)Al
    1.24Diamond
    C
    1.25Graphite
    C
    1.26Chaoite
    C
    1.27Lonsdaleite
    C
    1.28Silicon
    Si
    1.29Tin
    Sn
    1.30Lead
    Pb
    1.31Anyuiite
    Au(Pb,Sb)
     
    2
    1.31Novodneprite
    AuPb
     
    3
    1.32Leadamalgam
    HgPb
     
    2
    1.33Arsenic
    As
    1.34Arsenolamprite
    As
    1.35Paxite
    CuAs
     
    2
    1.36Koutekite
    Cu
     
    5
    		As
     
    2
    1.37Domeykite
    Cu
     
    3
    		As
    1.38Algodonite
    (Cu
     
    1-x
    		As
     
    x
    		)
    1.39Novakite
    Cu
     
    20
    		AgAs
     
    10
    1.40Kutinaite
    Cu
     
    2
    		AgAs
    1.41Antimony
    Sb
    1.42Stibarsen
    AsSb
    1.43Paradocrasite
    Sb
     
    3
    		As
    1.44Horsfordite
    1.45Cuprostibite
    Cu
     
    2
    		(Sb,Tl)
    1.46Allargentum
    (Ag
     
    1-x
    		Sb
     
    x
    		)
    1.47Aurostibite
    AuSb
     
    2
    1.48Dyscrasite
    Ag
     
    3
    		Sb
    1.49Bismuth
    Bi
    1.50Maldonite
    Au
     
    2
    		Bi
    1.51Sulphur
    S
     
    8
    1.52Rosickýite
    S
    1.53Selenium
    Se
    1.54Tellurium
    Te
    1.55Chromium
    Cr
    1.56Rhenium
    Re
    1.57Iron
    Fe
    1.58Chromferide
    Fe
     
    3
    		Cr
     
    1-x
    		 (x=0.6)
    1.59Ferchromide
    Cr
     
    1.5
    		Fe
     
    0.5-x
    1.60Wairauite
    CoFe
    1.61Nickel
    Ni
    1.62Kamacite
    (Fe,Ni)
    1.63Taenite
    (Fe,Ni)
    1.64Tetrataenite
    FeNi
    1.65Awaruite
    Ni
     
    3
    		Fe
    1.66Palladium
    (Pd,Pt)
    1.67Potarite
    PdHg
    1.68Paolovite
    Pd
     
    2
    		Sn
    1.69Stannopalladinite
    (Pd,Cu)
     
    3
    		Sn
     
    2
    1.70Cabriite
    Pd
     
    2
    		SnCu
    1.71Taimyrite
    (Pd,Cu,Pt)
     
    3
    		Sn
    1.72Atokite
    (Pd,Pt)
     
    3
    		Sn
    1.73Rustenburgite
    (Pt,Pd)
     
    3
    		Sn
    1.74Zvyagintsevite
    (Pd,Pt,Au)
     
    3
    		(Pb,Sn)
    1.75Plumbopalladinite
    Pd
     
    3
    		Pb
     
    2
    1.76Osmium
    (Os,Ir,Ru)
    1.77Iridium
    (Ir,Os,Ru)
    1.82Platinum
    Pt
    1.83Hongshiite
    PtCu
    1.84Niggliite
    PtSn
    1.85Isoferroplatinum
    Pt
     
    3
    		Fe
    1.86Tetraferroplatinum
    PtFe
    1.87Tulameenite
    Pt
     
    2
    		CuFe
    1.88Ferronickelplatinum
    Pt
     
    2
    		FeNi
    1.89Rhodium
    (Rh,Pt)
    Related Minerals - Dana Grouping):

    - +
    1.1.1.1Gold
    Au
    1.1.1.2Silver
    Ag

    Other Names for Copper

    Synonyms:
    CupperNative CopperNative CuVenusYarvi
    Other Languages:
    Afrikaans:Koper
    Albanian:Bakri
    Arabic:نحاس
    Armenian:Պղինձ
    Aymara:Anti
    Azeri:Mis
    Basque:Kobre
    Belarusian:Медзь
    Belarusian (Tarashkevitsa):Медзь
    Bengali:তামা
    Bosnian (Latin Script):Bakar
    Bulgarian:Мед
    Catalan:Coure
    Chuvash:Пăхăр
    Cornish:Kober
    Corsican:Ramu
    Croatian:Bakar
    Czech:Měď
    Danish:Kobber
    Dutch:Koper
    Erzya:Пиже
    Esperanto:Kupro
    Estonian:Vask
    Finnish:Kupari
    French:Cuivre
    Friulian:Ram
    Galician:Cobre
    Georgian:სპილენძი
    German:Kupfer
    Greek:Χαλκός
    Gujarati:તાંબુ
    Haitian:Kuiv
    Hebrew:נחושת
    Hindi:ताम्र
    Hungarian:Réz
    Icelandic:Kopar
    Ido:Kupro
    Indonesian:Tembaga
    Irish Gaelic:Copar
    Italian:Rame
    Japanese:銅
    自然銅
    Javanese:Tembaga
    Kongo:Mutako
    Korean:구리
    Kurdish (Latin Script):Mis
    Latin:Cuprum
    Aes Cyprium
    Latvian:Varš
    Limburgian:Koper
    Lithuanian:Varis
    Lojban:tunka
    Low Saxon:Kopper
    Luxembourgish:Koffer
    Macedonian:Бакар
    Malay:Tembaga
    Malayalam:ചെമ്പ്
    Manx:Cobbyr
    Maori:Konukura
    Marathi:तांबे
    Min Nan:Cu
    Mongolian (Cyrillic Script):Зэс
    Nahuatl:Chīltic tepoztli
    Norwegian (Bokmål):Kobber
    Norwegian (Nynorsk):Kopar
    Occitan:Coire
    Persian:مس
    Polish:Miedź
    Portuguese:Cobre
    Quechua:Anta
    Ripuarian:Koffer
    Romanian:Cupru
    Russian:Медь
    Sanskrit:ताम्रम्
    Scottish Gaelic:Copar
    Serbian (Cyrillic Script):Бакар
    Serbo-Croatian:Bakar
    Sicilian:Rami
    Simplified Chinese:铜
    Slovak:Meď
    Slovenian:Baker
    Spanish:Cobre
    Swahili:Shaba
    Swedish:Koppar
    Tagalog:Tanso
    Tajik (Cyrillic Script):Мис
    Tamil:செப்பு
    Telugu:రాగి
    Thai:ทองแดง
    Traditional Chinese:銅
    Turkish:Bakır
    Ukrainian:Мідь
    Urdu:تانبا
    Uzbek (Latin Script):Mis
    Vietnamese:Đồng
    Welsh:Copr
    Yiddish:קופער
    Zulu:Umthofu
    Varieties:
    Auriferous Zincian CopperPalladian CopperStanniferous CopperWhitneyite

    Other Information

    Other Information:Completely soluble with Gold.
    Health Warning:No information on health risks for this material has been entered into the database. You should always treat mineral specimens with care.

    References for Copper

    Reference List:Goldschmidt, V. (1918) Atlas der Krystallformen. 9 volumes, atlas, and text: vol. 5: 57.

    Dana (1886), American Journal of Science: 32: 413.

    Bragg (1914), Philadelphia Magazine: 28: 255.

    Ramsdell (1929) American Mineralogist: 14: 188.

    Owen & Yates (1933), Philadelphia Magazine: 15: 472.

    Vegard and Kloster (1934) Zeitschrift für Kristallographie, Mineralogie und Petrographie, Leipzig: 89: 560.

    Owen and Rogers (1935) Journal of the Institute of Metals, London: 57: 257.

    Palache, Charles, Harry Berman & Clifford Frondel (1944), The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana Yale University 1837-1892, Seventh edition, Volume I: 99-102.

    Articles/Blogs about Copper

    Internet Links for Copper

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  • Raman and XRD data at RRUFF project
  • American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database
  • Search for Copper in the Natural History Museum (London) online catalogue
  • Copper details from Handbook of Mineralogy (PDF)
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  • Fabre Minerals - search for Copper specimens
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    Localities for Copper

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